DOZENS of flights were cancelled at Stansted Airport near London today after activists demonstrating against global warming cut through a fence near the runway. The airport reopened around 0800 GMT (1900 AEDT) after police arrested 57 people who had breached the perimeter fence using bolt-cutters under cover of darkness five hours earlier.Got a better idea. Taxi a 747 nearby, turn around and gun the engines.

One of the activists, Lily Kember, 21, said the protesters were able to sit on a site near where aeroplanes taxi before taking off and landing.I'm just sorry she didn't get an A380 in the kisser...oh wait..yeah, cleaning those engines would be bloody expensive. Damn.

"Being arrested is a terrifying prospect, but not nearly as terrifying as the threat of climate change," she said.
You mean that myth bruited about by a load of panic merchants?

The Plane Stupid protest group were demonstrating against the British government's decision to allow the airportThey picked the right name...:rolleyes:

which is the main hub for budget airline Ryanair, to be expanded with a second runway. Stansted's commercial manager Nick Barton said the airport's security staff had prevented the activists from reaching the runway.Damn. Watching them get tossed about like matchsticks from the backwash of a Rolls Royce engine?? I'd pay to see that :D

"They were unable to get to the runway and a second wave of protesters was stopped," he told BBC radio. "All of the invaders of the runway have been removed and are in the arms of the police."

He said he hoped the airport would be able to "recover quite well" from the impact of the protest, but admitted it would cause delays throughout the day.Make 'em clean the runway. With their tongues. :D

Ryanair said it had to cancel 52 flights in and out of Stansted as a result of the protest, including services to Dublin, Prestwick in Scotland, Frankfurt, Genoa, Oslo and Berlin. The Irish budget airline said it was calling for an investigation into why security at the airport "has once again failed to keep Stansted secure and open to the travelling public".A few sackings are in order, I'd say.

Plane Stupid said in a statement that aviation was the fastest-growing source of emissions and already contributed to at least 13 per cent of Britain's carbon emissions.So's your farts, dearie.

It said the disruption to flights would prevent "the release of thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere".If you shut up, there'd be less.

The group has staged other high-profile demonstrations against the expansions of London airports. Its members climbed onto the roof of the Houses of Parliament in February to protest against proposals to add a third runway at Heathrow, which is already one of the busiest airports in the world. Where the hell was security? Walking their seeing eye dogs?? :mad: